


Gentle Wars

by kate7h



Series: For Some Development - Thorfinn x Gudrid [3]
Category: Vinland Saga (Manga)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Late Night Conversations, Thumb Wars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 12:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21270872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate7h/pseuds/kate7h
Summary: On a night aboard the ship after setting sail in the spring, Gudrid teaches Thorfinn how to play thumb wars. Meanwhile she ponders what kind of person he is.





	Gentle Wars

**Author's Note:**

> Hullo! I have to write fic for them because so far there’s only 2 and I feel an obligation to help in this effort!

It was dark already on the ship. The firelight of the torches illuminated it enough to see, but what mostly helped was the full moon up above. It was so bright, the golden light of the torches didn't seem to dissuade the visage of silver. Gudrid had laid her bedroll in the space beside where Thorfinn rocked Karli to sleep. She greeted him as she sat, smiling at the child in his arms. Sleep came easy tonight for Karli, which she was sure everyone was grateful for. 

"Perhaps it's because he was able to eat some of the soup," Thorfinn guessed, and Gudrid agreed. Their suspicion of his lack of contentedness was due to being hungry for the food he needed. But there wasn't much they could do about that.

She reached out, touching the baby's forehead tenderly. "Hopefully it will keep getting easier for him. I hate to see him so unhappy."

Thorfinn nodded. "So do I."

Carefully, Thorfinn got up with the baby still asleep in his arms. He smiled at her before laying Karli down with the dog. Gudrid blinked when he turned to leave. 

"Hey, it's not your turn to keep watch. You should get some sleep," she said sternly, still trying to be quiet for Karli's sake. 

Thorfinn turned back to her with a shrug. "I don't mind helping. I won't get much sleep either way, so I'm used to it."

Gudrid knew he had trouble sleeping, and she wished she could help, honestly, although she didn't quite know what to do. That shouting and screaming he woke everyday with didn’t seem like he was seeing anything halfway pleasant in his dreams… But staying up just because of knowing he wouldn't sleep well wasn't a very good solution.

"T- then I'll stay up with you," she said. "Maybe if you stay near your bed, you can go to sleep once you feel tired."

He blinked, surprise on his face and Gudrid flushed, wondering if she'd been too brash. Then he smiled and sat back down. "Alright."

Sometimes it was surprising to her how easy it was to talk with Thorfinn. He really wasn’t that easygoing, and he tended to circle conversations back around to being negative about himself. But at the same time, he was so open and honest and completely earnest. Talking with him made her think she’d never met another person quite like him. 

Everytime she was able to have a quiet moment with him like this, she found herself always craving more, just to get to know him better. 

"You don't know how to play?" she almost gaped, surprise in her features. 

Thorfinn shrugged. "I wasn't in a position to learn many games. Many of the crew I travelled with played such games, but I had no interest in doing anything with them, so I never learned."

Gudrid swallowed. She knew his past was dark, picking it up from bits of things he and the others said occasionally- and then there was the whole situation with Hild… But she wasn't going to let that stop her.

"Well, it's easy enough. Here," she said, holding out her hand over the low beam between them. When he held her hand, she adjusted her hold to the proper grip, sticking her thumb up. He did the same. 

She couldn't help but notice the roughness of his hands, the scars and marks that nearly completely covered them… there wasn't a place she could see or feel that were free of them.  _ A hard and painful life…  _ She already knew that, but the scars on his hand, and the rest of his body as well, was a testament to the horrors he'd experienced.

Pushing those thoughts aside for now, she smiled as she explained the game. "The goal is to only use your thumb to pin your opponent, and that's pretty much it."

Thorfinn laughed lightly. "Then you're at a disadvantage, having such small hands."

Gudrid scoffed, “Maybe, but you’ve never played before, so experience is on my side.”

“Oh really?” 

He smiled. She smiled. She decided she liked his smile. 

It turned out he was right, longer thumbs made for a great advantage. He won almost every time, easily holding her thumb down with such ease she was sure she had no strength at all comparatively. The only matches she’d been able to win was when she cheated and used her arm or both hands. 

“I win! I win, see?!” She exclaimed in a hushed excitement, holding his thumb under hers, with her other hand over the top. 

“Cheating doesn't count,” he grinned, patting her hand lightly before pulling it off their joined hands. 

“Yeesh!” She cried in mock aggravation. “You’re too damn strong!”

“I just have long fingers,” he replied nonchalantly. 

“Still!”

Thorfinn smiled, proceeding to pin her once again, Gudrid let out an exasperated sigh, even while she watched his face as he laughed. Bright and happy, almost as if nothing bad had ever happened to him. Her mind wandered back to the first time she'd actually spoken to him… When he'd offered her a chance at freedom. He hadn't smiled back then, looking very stern and severe, and yet… there was such a kindness there, something warm in his eyes- she could see it in him with everyone, especially with Karli and even Hild. Despite the past, he always found a way to be kind and gentle.

She herself was no exception. He always treated her so pleasantly, so thoughtfully. She'd overheard him tell the others to keep their concerns about being pursued to themselves… as to not make her feel bad- a compassionate forethought. Gudrid honestly couldn't imagine Thorfinn being such a hate-filled warrior as he says he was, or the "murderous beast" Hild calls him. Knowing him now, it all seemed like some weird, sick joke. No man who cares so tenderly for a little baby the way Thorfinn did could be such a person.

"You seem deep in thought," Thorfinn said, pinning her again.

She blinked, looking up at him once more. "Oh, sorry. I suppose I was."

Thorfinn tilted his head, taking in her expression. "You don't have to worry, if you're thinking about Sigurd finding us. Even if he does, I'll make sure he doesn't take you anywhere you don't want to go."

Her eyes widened, face warming at the sheer kindness his mind went to immediately.  _ How can he be so good?!  _

"I- I wasn't thinking about that, but t- thank you, Thorfinn."

He smiled in response, turning his attention back to their game. Gudrid watched him a moment more. Even if it was unbelievable, maybe it was the hardships he went through to make him so kind... 

"Really, Thorfinn. Thank you," she said, covering their joined hands again, more to convey her feelings than to cheat at their game. She bit back a frown as she looked down. "You really don't have to worry about me- in fact, it'd be easier to avoid the whole situation if you just left me and let me find my own way."

Thorfinn looked at her with a thoughtful expression, before looking down at their hands.

“That’s not going to happen, whether it’s easier or not,” Thorfinn said quietly. “I want you to have the opportunity to live the life you want to.” 

Gudrid blinked, gaping at him as she tried to process his words. The times when she felt so trapped, so stuck in the stagnant and suffocating life she desperately didn’t want. All the times when the people around her told her she’d get used to it, ‘you’ll understand when you grow up,’ ‘she’ll mellow out with age.’ Never… never had anyone told her she had a choice. Never. Never... until Thorfinn. 

She didn’t even realize she’d started crying until Thorfinn’s face turned concerned. 

“Ah- sorry, what’s wrong?” He started, looking flustered. 

Now on top of crying, she was blushing. She pulled her hands away to cover her face. “Gaah, no no, it’s fine! It’s fine!”

“Are you okay…?” He asked as she tried to compose herself. 

After a few moments, Gudrid looked up again, feeling a warm smile spread across her face. “Thank you.”

“Er-“ Thorfinn blinked, confusion on concern still there. “For what?”

Gudrid pulled her knees up, turning to the side. “You’re the first person to actually want me to live how I want.”

He stared at her for a moment before his face softened, a solemness coming over him as he looked at her a bit sadly. “I’m sorry for that… that it’s taken so long for someone to try to understand you.”

Again, she almost couldn’t comprehend how a person could be so good and kind. She stared at him blinking as she felt something warm in her chest. It was calmer than those flustered feelings as she took in his utter sincerity. It wasn’t even just his words, it was that every gentle thing he said or did reflected what his heart was like.  _ What a beautiful person… _ She resisted the impulse to lean forward and just hug him and never let go.

She turned back to him, holding out her hand with a cheery grin. “Rematch?”

Thorfinn blinked, then smiled softly as he clasped his hand with hers again. 

**Author's Note:**

> I know thumb wars weren’t a think back in the 9th century, but that’s fine, (neither was there really pacifist vikings in that Germanic culture) who cares! I love it either way!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I’ll likely post more as I slowly jot more down randomly


End file.
